Apartment living is a great way to get your creative juices flowing. Finding ways to make everything work just right for you is a unique and fun challenge. When we’re talking about apartment gardens, there’s an even greater potential for ingenuity. We’ll use today’s post as a chance to examine some of the best options you’ll have for creating some great gardens at your apartment.

Let’s start with compost. (How’s that for an attention-getter?) Planet Green has a list of 75 things you can compost, and you probably didn’t know it. The list they’ve compiled is amazing. Print that off and hang it up somewhere near the sink and/or garbage can. We’ve started collecting many of these things at home and I’ve learned that it gets easier to remember over time. So be patient, because soon enough you’ll be thinking about compost more than you ever wanted to. Having plenty of compost will be quite helpful in raising good apartment plants. It’s pretty amazing, all of the things you can hang onto. Just think of it as a coin collection, only gross.

Another important item to think about with apartment plants is what kind of space you have and how to best use it. If you’ve got a small yard area attached to your apartment, you might want to consider building a raised garden bed, which would be completely independent from your rental property.

The image on the right (from instructables.com) shows a raised garden bed on legs. This may be your best option. You can avoid a number of problems by having a raised bed garden on legs. No critters will be able to burrow into your strawberries, your back pain will be significantly lessened, and it will be quite a bit easier to handle when it comes time to move. You have all the benefits of a garden without the threat of permanent changes to your property that may end up coming out of your deposit.

The materials are listed through the above link. Make sure you use sturdy lumber, as your gardens will be subject to whatever your particular climate has to offer. The entire project should cost you less than $200, but will be well worth it if you can yield some hard-earned fruits (and veggies). Check out EarthEasy.com for more tips on your apartment garden.

What about all of you who don’t have any yard space to work with? Do not worry my friends, there is still hope for your little garden. The catch on this is that you won’t be able to have the same type of harvest that you might if you had some outdoor space.

The first thing to do is find the right location in your apartment for some plant life. It will need to be a spot that gets plenty of sunlight, and somewhere that gets regular foot traffic so you won’t forget to nourish the vulnerable little sprouts.

When it comes time to decide which seeds to get, you’ll want to consult the resident know-it-all (the internet) on what plants will be best suited for you. We’ll include some links to help you find what you’re looking for. You also may want to consult with the professionals at the garden shop.

Planet Green has a simple little intro to this process that should be helpful.
iVillage has also posted their top 10 indoor plants. And don’t worry if you can’t pronounce some of those names. Just jot down a few that you’re interested in and take the paper with you to the shop. It will be easier on you and the employee.

How Stuff Works from Discovery has posted a very convenient and useful “Vegetable Spacing Guide” so you can keep your greens out of each other’s personal bubble.

These tips and links should help you get your feet wet (and a bit dirty) as you begin this process of gardening in your apartment. And, as always, please share your insights below. We don’t pretend to know everything, and we know that many of you already have been doing things like this, so please, share what has worked for you.

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